


The Winter's Tale

by mountain_born



Series: The Marvelous Tale of an Agent, an Archer, and an Assassin [51]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Doctor Who/Avengers Crossover Fusion, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 15:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18663418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mountain_born/pseuds/mountain_born
Summary: The Winter Soldier couldn't say how long he'd been with the Silence.





	The Winter's Tale

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks and kudos to my every-brilliant beta, **like-a-raven**. And oh, gentle readers, does she have some fun stuff in store for you!
> 
> This fic picks up right after the end of _The Wedding of River Song._ Just a quick peek at Bucky's life with the Silence (who are up to no good indeed). And as mention of the Convergence would indicate, we are leading up to events of _Thor: The Dark World._
> 
> Happy reading!

_Early 21st Century (Earth Reckoning)_  
_Silence Base ~ 3rd Moon of Alfheim_

James didn’t know exactly how long he had been with the Silence. Years, he assumed, though he couldn’t say how many. However long it had been, though, the Anglican Marines still gave him a wide berth. They were fellow soldiers and they fought for the same cause, but James had never really been one of them. The Winter Soldier was something apart: Madame Kovarian’s personal weapon.

The uniformed clerics parted around James like water around a stone as he strode through the Silence’s new base. The Silence had abandoned Demons Run after the Doctor’s attack on it. That small, remote outpost had served its purpose. It had provided a secure location to keep Amy Pond hidden, and its isolation had helped to lure the Doctor into thinking it was an easy target. This base, a space station orbiting the largest of Alfheim’s three moons, was much larger and more in the galactic center of things.

James paused in front of a large window on the observation deck. From here he could see the northern hemisphere of Alfheim. The planet was colloquially referred to in some societies as one of the Nine Realms of Asgard. James had never visited the surface, but he’d heard some of the Marines who had taken shore leave there say that it was beautiful. Above the north pole of the planet he could make out the spot where light seem to twist, distorting itself into a disc shape. Going by reports from the Science Division that disc (in reality a small hole in the fabric of space) was growing steadily larger every day.

“Magnificent, wouldn’t you say?” a smooth voice behind him asked.

Any opinion James might have had about the view evaporated at the sound of that voice. He stood at attention as Dr. Dominic Weatherby, the head of the Science Division himself, stepped up to join him at the window. 

In a private corner of James’ mind, he always associated Dr. Weatherby with snow. Possibly it was because of how they’d met. The Silence had found James in the snow. He’d been a soldier for a different cause then, one that he could no longer even remember. He’d been badly injured, and his former comrades had left him behind in the snow, bleeding out and dying. Dr. Weatherby had saved James’ life; he was one of the first people James had known by name here. 

Beyond that, Weatherby conveyed a general sense of coldness. He was a very pale man with white hair. His eyes were a flat and icy grey behind steel-rimmed spectacles. His voice and his hands were always chilly. And whenever James woke up in Weatherby’s lab after a treatment, when strange and unwelcome thoughts became a hindrance, he felt like cold had settled into every cell of his body, as if he’d been reformed out of snow.

James didn’t answer Weatherby, because he knew Weatherby was not actually asking for his opinion. Offering opinions was not one of James’ assigned directives. 

“Imagine what it will look like when the Convergence is complete,” Weatherby went on. “Nine worlds in alignment, their gates thrown open. And we’re in a perfect spot to take advantage of it.” Weatherby turned away from the window, looking at James. “You’re just back from Earth, aren’t you? Madame Kovarian had you looking in on our dear little Melody’s nuptials?”

James nodded. He had the data stick, containing his report and the recording of his observations, already in his hand.

“Well then, I believe you’re due in Madame Kovarian’s private conference room. As am I. We shouldn’t keep her waiting.”

Madame Kovarian and Colonel Manton were already in the conference room. Weatherby took a seat at the table. James handed Kovarian the data stick and stood at attention, awaiting further instructions.

“Thank you, James.” Madame Kovarian passed it to Manton, who plugged it into his computer. Images began to populate the room’s main screen. “And how was the wedding?”

James frowned. Madame Kovarian was teasing him a bit; he could tell by her tone. He never knew quite what to do with that. 

“Successful,” he said after a long moment. It seemed a safe answer. Melody Pond and Clint Barton had ended the day legally married. That seemed to be the definition of a successful wedding.

Madame Kovarian chuckled at his answer. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.”

Colonel Manton made a faint noise of disgust. “I still fail to see why we’re wasting time shadowing the girl. We should simply take her back. In fact, we should have done it when she first defected.”

“Perhaps if it hadn’t taken you the better part of four of her years to find her again, that would have been a reasonable option,” Weatherby replied. “That independent streak of hers only got worse after she left us.”

“Enough, gentlemen.” Kovarian was scrolling through the pictures on the screen, waving this one or that one forward to get a better look. They were all of activity taking place outside of Stark Mansion. Madame Kovarian had been very explicit that James remain undetected by those in and around the house.

Weatherby and Manton somehow managed to give the impression of retreating to separate corners without ever moving from their seats. Weatherby opened his own computer, lightly tapping on the keys. James, who still hadn’t been dismissed, remained where he was. How many of these meetings of the inner circle of the Silence had he spent like this, standing like a statue on the sidelines? 

Enough of them to know that this was an old argument: _What do we do about Melody?_

There was no question that they had to bring Melody back into the Silence at some point. Misguided or not, she was their foreordained savior, the woman who would kill the Doctor. She was the only one who _could_ kill the Doctor. It was in her DNA. Melody was part Time Lord and that made her a match for him. 

Manton had been all for simply dragging her back by force as soon as possible. Weatherby had been of a similar mind, but with more elaborate ideas. _I have ways of making her comply_ , he’d said, words that had left James with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

In the end Madame Kovarian had opted for a different strategy. Let Melody live and grow in her new life as River Song, Agent of SHIELD. Let her feel at home there. Let her make friends, form attachments. Let it come to mean something to her. Then, when the time was right, threaten to tear it all down if she refused to cooperate.

It was a long game, to be sure, but so far the plan was working even better than Kovarian had initially hoped. She waved one of the pictures from James’ intel to the screen’s foreground, Melody and Agent Barton’s arrival at the mansion. Barton featured in the center, smiling down at Melody with pure, unabashed affection. Madame Kovarian tilted her head.

“I suppose he’s handsome in his own way,” she said. “Incredibly loyal and steadfast too, by all accounts. Funny how mother and daughter ended up favoring exactly the same sort of man.” Kovarian turned to face the others. “When the time comes to bring Melody back into the fold, we’ll simply hold a gun to his head and see how quickly her willfulness evaporates. My guess is that it won’t take long.” Her mouth curved in an unpleasant smile. “I’ve always said that love is the most dangerous weapon in the Universe.”

“Am I the only one who’s going to mention the pachyderm on the premises?” Manton asked. He tapped a key on his computer. The picture of Agent Barton disappeared and a new one came to the forefront of the screen. In this one, Melody stood alongside the Doctor himself.

“You wanted our little Melody to make friends,” he said. “One of those friends is the Doctor. You don’t think that’s going to be a complication when we order her to kill him?”

“On the contrary, I believe it will be an advantage,” Kovarian replied. “We had her tracking the Doctor for decades with nothing to show for it. Now he comes at her call. She’s under his guard. That will make it all the easier for her to kill him. And I know that girl. She won’t choose the Doctor over the man she loves.”

“The Doctor isn’t the only formidable friend she has now,” Weatherby said. “What about the Avengers?”

“Our people on the inside are working on ways to deal with them. But gentlemen, we’re getting several steps ahead of ourselves here,” Kovarian said. “We can’t take our first proper step until the Convergence. Once that’s done we’ll be in a much better position to plan.”

The meeting broke up, Weatherby and Manton going their separate ways. James thought he might be free to go, but Madame Kovarian said, “Walk with me please, James,” on her way out the door. It was an order, no matter how politely phrased.

“What do you think of our plans for Melody?” Kovarian asked as they walked along one of the base’s wide thoroughfares. 

James thought carefully before he answered. As with Dr. Weatherby, he know that it wasn’t necessarily his opinion that Madame Kovarian wanted. This was a test of some kind, though he couldn’t really say to what purpose.

“We only want what’s best for her,” he said after a pause. 

Madame Kovarian nodded in satisfaction. 

“Indeed, James. She’ll come around to the right side again. Now, tell me what you think of these Avengers. Captain Rogers, for instance. You had a chance to observe him. What are your impressions?”

She eyed him closely as she asked the question. Captain Rogers must be significant in some way, beyond just being the leader of the Avengers. James thought back to the man he’d observed. He saw Captain Rogers staring out into the night and pulling the curtains across the brightly-lit window in Stark Mansion.

“Strong,” he said. That was obvious just from looking at the man. “Sharp instincts. He seemed to feel like he was being watched.”

“Hmm. Is that all?”

_He’s a little punk._

James frowned. That thought made no sense at all and he couldn’t even say where it had come from. Thoughts that had no reasonable source generally meant a trip to Dr. Weatherby’s lab. James had developed the habit of simply not mentioning them unless they became too much of a distraction.

“Yes, ma’am. But I only had a chance to observe him from a distance.”

This answer seemed to satisfy Madame Kovarian. She threaded her hand through James’ elbow as they continued on to the observation platform overlooking the main hanger deck. Madame Kovarian rested one hand on the railing as they looked over the activity below. Marines ran laps around the perimeter of the large space while others tinkered under the hoods of various vehicles and aircraft, and still others were stacking crates of equipment.

“These are very exciting times, James. Do you know why?”

“We’re going to kill the Doctor,” James replied dutifully.

“We are,” Madame Kovarian said. “And with the Doctor out of the way we have a real chance to bring peace and order to the Universe. That begins here.”

James couldn’t help a quizzical look, but Madame Kovarian didn’t seem to take it amiss. 

“I believe Providence was at work when Melody ended up with SHIELD,” Kovarian said. “SHIELD at this time is a powerful organization with many resources. We’ve been seeding our agents among its ranks, up to the highest levels. When the Doctor is dead and Melody is back with us, we’ll claim it. With SHIELD we’ll take control of Earth. From there we can begin to forge a domain that will rival the Kree Empire, Asgard, or possibly even Gallifrey itself. We’ll rewrite history for the better.”

Kovarian was looking out over the hanger and therefore didn’t see the look of dismay that James was sure showed on his face. He felt like he had heard speeches like this before.

But the Silence was good, wasn’t it? Sometimes they had to use harsh means, but it was to a good end.

“Once the Convergence reaches its peak, we’ll be able to make our first move. Earth in the early days of the 21st Century is on the cusp of great things. We’ll make sure it achieves them and more.”

James said nothing. What was there for him to say? The Silence was expanding its scope. It wasn’t just about ridding the Universe of the Doctor anymore.

All there was for him to do was to serve when the time came. His place was with the Silence. He was with them till the end of the line.


End file.
